


Echoes of the stars

by RoseBell



Series: Echoes of a hero [3]
Category: Star Fox Series
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 02:49:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19416925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseBell/pseuds/RoseBell
Summary: Sequel to "Echoes of my soul" Please read the previous story first.Heartbroken, James McCloud makes a difficult decision: A young hero finds himself stranded, Star Fox faces a new enemy and old friends give their help to a ghost. Ask yourself, do miracles really happen?





	1. Chapter 1

"Today, we gather together in memory of Corneria's bravest hero... "

_To be a hero, one must make sacrifices in order to save others._

"...marking a year since we lost our brave soldier in battle though victorious... "

_When you're a hero your life does not matter, the only thing that matters is the safety of the souls in which you are protecting._

"...A year since we lost Corneria's bravest soldier, Fox McCloud."

_Protecting them even if it costs you your life..._

"He truly is a hero Corneria and everyone among the Lylat misses dearly."

_...I was one of those heroes..._

The echoes of gunshots rang through the old tom's ear as he watched the Cornerian military sendoff shots in his son's honor, and it was a sight familiar to him from the year before. Telling his little boy good-bye was by far the hardest thing James McCloud ever had to do. The old vulpine watched as the military finished their solute, and the ceremony came to an end.

"I wonder what Fox would think about all this fuss?" James heard the words leave the old hare standing beside him. "He never did like it when people put him in the spotlight."

James couldn't answer, not on a day like this; ever since Fox died, James found each day harder to finish than the last. Before loosing his kit, James loved Star Fox; Star Fox was his creation and something the tom was very proud of, but now all the name did was remind him of who he lost.

"Peppy, I've come to a decision... " James finally spoke, though the words he was about to tell the rabbit were words he never once ever expected to leave his lips. "...I'm retiring."

"Retiring!?" As expected this was a shock to Peppy. "Why, why would you retire? You're still young, and you love Star Fox."

"I know, but Star Fox only reminds me that I never turned back to save him."

"James, like I told you that day, you couldn't save him he was gone the moment the flames hit him, and you know it." Peppy hated to see his old friend like this and he hated the thought of him giving up the last thing he had.

"I know I couldn't save him, Peppy thanks so much for reminding me; What I'm saying is that as his father I could have tried!" Taking offense from what Peppy said, James couldn't help raising his voice despite the crowd surrounding them. "I'm done, Peppy and that's final."

"A-as you wish, Jimmy... "

* * *

**_One year earlier_ **

Feeling the heat beneath his feet, Fox knew the flames were close behind and he had to act quickly. Giving his team one last glace he only hoped they wait and let the fire clear before he could board The Great Fox. As the smoke covered the tom, he took away his glace to his father and darted back inside his wrecked Arwing and closed the cockpit in hopes it's fireproof glass withheld to the intense amount of heat coming his way.

"It's okay... " The terrified kit only aged eighteen, Cornerian adulthood not to reach him until twenty, tried his best to reassure himself as he felt the temperature inside the jet begin to rise. "It'll be okay. it'll be okay."

 _Whoosh!_ Fox watched as the crimson, roaring flames wisped past his cockpit window and the heat filled his jet causing it to feel like a volcano. Panting, the kit could only pray to the gods that he didn't burn alive. "Go away, fire go away. Please go away."

Hissing, Fox leaned forward as his seat was so hot it began to melt onto his vest and burn his skin like lava. All he could do was sit, wait, and try not to get even more burnt than he already was. As the flames began to finally die down, the tom smiled in hopes it was over; nope, because just as he was aloud to relax his relaxation was cut away... quite literally. Thanks to the fire, one of the phone towers on venom had melted down enough for the bottom to snap and it went directly toward the wrecked Arwing. Before Fox could react, the broken pieces of the tower smashed into his cockpit and slice off his left arm clean.

"Fuck!" Was the first word to leave the poor kit's lungs as he held where his arm used to sit; blood was rushing out like crazy, and due to him being forced back onto his seat his back was being burnt like the seat was on fire.

Panicked, Fox thought of the craziest solution and pressed where the blood was spewing out onto the melting seat and letting it close his wound with the melted leather making the tom yelp in pain. The pain was unbearable, but he knew he had to push through it and endured any more burning as he climbed out, pushing himself off his boiling hot jet onto the warm ground. Surprisingly, the dirt wasn't as hot as he'd expect which was a relief. Glancing up, he then realized the sky was clear; the sky being clear would normally be a nice scene to see, unless your name is Fox McCloud and you expected to see The Great Fox awaiting you to flag them down.

"No." Standing up, the kit felt his heart beat start to race as he scanned the toxic, violet skies of Venom for his team. "No, no they couldn't have left without me! They- Oh gods, they really did- they left me behind!"

Reality set in all at once. Star Fox was gone, Venom was empty, and Fox was all alone with no way of contacting anyone. Death would have been a more generous gift.

**_One year later and present day_ **

"Alright, that should do it. If you don't fly now? I give up."

A year spent alone on venom will do tricks to your mind, and Fox had spent this amount of time alone on venom. Matted fur covered his body, his eyes were dull from lack of water and nutrition and the nub bellow his left shoulder still had the rubber he had melted onto his wound. Aged nineteen now, Fox was determined to escape this planet riddled in chemicals and return home. He'd made many attempts to contact his team and all failed. So, he decided to rebuild his jet and fix it up. There were endless amounts of parts scattered around venom and that made this possible. Six months of arduous work later and Fox had him a jet and hopefully it worked.

"Let's give this a try." Getting inside, Fox closed his repaired cockpit and started the Arwing up and to his surprise it turned on. "Yes! Yes, oh, how I missed that noise!" Feeling the jet lift off the ground, the tired and hungry tom shifted it into the correct gears and took off to the stars and prayed it would at least make it to the next populated planet. "Home, here I come!"

Home was closer for Fox than he'd ever dreamt it be for the last year he'd been stranded, and to him... this was a miracle.

**_Eight hours later_ **

**"FUEL LOW!"**

Fox watched those words flash onto his screen in a yellow color, and he let a groan leave his throat. Despite being annoyed, he knew the closest planet was Fortuna and he planned to land in the city of Andral. It took about fifteen minutes, but before he knew it he was safely landed on the rainforest planet and knew exactly where he was headed. He was headed to Phil, the chipmunk mechanic who was a friend of his father's.

Leaping out of his cockpit, the tom headed into the city; Andral was just as massive as he remembered with huge building that towered over the citizens, vines wrapped around said buildings and trees covered the city bringing life into people's every day lives. Thankfully, Fox remembered which way him and his team went to find Phil's shop.

His team... Fox thought about his team often and regrets letting himself crash land like he did. As much as he loved his team though, Fox thought of his father and his bird most of all. _Falco is_ _most likely moved on._ He thought to himself and could feel his heart ache at the thought. _And dad's probably having the time of his life running Star Fox._

Breaking his thoughts, Fox found himself in front of the old, tin building and smiled knowing this was where he was headed. Phil's shop. Making his way inside, he lifted the old, colorful blanket Phil called his door and slowly stepped inside. He'd forgotten how chilly the air was inside and felt his teeth start to shatter as the Icy breeze kissed his fur.

"Phil, you in here!?" The tom called out as he stepped over to the counter and scanned the room for any sign of movement. "It's me, Fox McCloud, James' son!"

Hearing shuffling come from the back, he watched as the old chipmunk scurried into the room and freeze as if he saw a ghost. Tilting his head, Fox couldn't help but frown as he saw the man's face turn pale at the site of the vulpine.

"Fox McCloud, you're alive?" Phil asked before shuffling over to Fox, pushing away any equipment in his way.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"I watched your funeral on television, Fox, Corneria announced your death a year ago." The chipmunk explained before dragging the confused tom into a warm hug. "I can't believe you're alive!"

"That explains why my team left without me... they thought I was dead." Fox could only frown to the thought.

"Well, you can stay here as long as you'd wa- Oh dear god's Fox what happened to your arm!?" Noticing the leather covered nub, the old chipmunk ran a paw across the black material. "What's on you?"

Letting a sigh leaving him, Fox replied. "I survived by hiding in my jet from the flames, but after they died down a telephone pole snapped and crashed into my window slicing my arm off. My leather seat was melting and already burning my back, so I took the chance to close up my wound."

Feeling bad for the hero, Phil knew he had to help him any way he could. "Fox, I'd be happy to tell you that I can build you an arm."

Shifting his gaze to the mechanic, Fox couldn't help the grin sketching across his face. "Really, you could do that!? That's amazing, but you don't have to Phil."

"I want to, Fox you're the Lylat's hero so it's the least I can do."

"Thank-You." Was all Fox that left the grateful tom, for he couldn't express his gratitude enough. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I rushed things in this chapter, but here it is and I hope you all enjoy.

**_Tap Tap_ **

_I've always imagined Falco and I growing old together; I imagined us getting married, I would wear a white tux and he a black one, unless we had to wear our uniforms and we'd write our own vows._

**_Tap Tap_ **

_I'd gaze into his magenta eyes and he'd gaze back into mine; we would cry, we would laugh... hell knowing Falco he'd say a joke to try and make everyone laugh and then we'd kiss but..._

**_Tap Tap_ **

_Now, when I imagine my azure bird, I imagine him with someone else and starting a life without me. I wouldn't blame him, to be perfectly honest I wouldn't be surprised if he had moved on because according to him I've been dead for a year._

**_Tap Tap_ **

_Despite that, it doesn't mean my heart isn't aching to the thought of my bird in another's arms..._

**_Tap Tap_ **

_...Death would have been a more bearable pain..._

**_Tap Tap_ **

The tapping of Falco's claws, or feet, echoed down the halls of the Great Fox as he made his way into the kitchen portion of the ship for coffee. Grabbing the filled pot, the azure avian pored the black liquid into his plain white mug and let the steam dance into his nostrils before taking his first sip. I bet you're asking; does Falco really drink black coffee? Well, no not normally but on this particular day they were sadly out of creamer.

Cringing at the bitter taste, a cough left the avians lungs before he set the cup onto the counter. "Powerful shit when there's no creamer."

Hearing the scampering sound of the smaller toad come into the room, Falco watched in dread as the frog reached for the coffee. "Coffee~"

"Wait!" Falco screamed out before knocking the pot into the sink. "Don't do it you'll choke on your soul."

Taking the avians warning, Slippy picked up the pot and pored out what didn't spill onto the floor. "So, now that James is no longer our Captain... who's going to take over?"

"Don't know." All that was left of Star Fox were them two and Peppy. It was a dark time for the team and the though of disbanding had been passed around between the tree. "I'm sure we will figure it out."

A long silence spread between them for a minute before the toad finally spoke up. "Met anyone yet?"

Feeling his teeth clinch together, the avian pored his coffee down the sink. "No, Slippy I don't think I could be with anyone else." His voice sounded raspy and empty; before Slippy could reply, though, Falco wasted no time leaving the kitchen and let the door swing closed behind him.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

"Okay, Fox here we go!" The old chipmunk exclaimed as he made his way over to the tom with a robotic, prosthetic arm. "If this works, you'll have a full functioning arm that packs a punch!"

Fox couldn't help but be amazed at Phil's work. "Wow, it looks great Phil but how to I put it on?"

Letting out a chuckle, the chipmunk lifted the nub on Fox's shoulder. "Let's just say this may hurt a bit."

As Phil set the arm up to the nub, Fox felt the wires suddenly pierce through the leather and into his skin making him grit his teeth. "Damn, you weren't kidding." Phil only chuckled in response as the arm set itself in place before bright blue lights that spread across the arm lit on. Gasping, Fox noticed as it reacted to his thoughts and moved as he thought. "It... It works."

"Alright!" Phil yelled in excitement. "I knew it would!"

"Phil, this is amazing I don't know how I could ever thank you enough let alone make it up to you!" The tom grinned at the chipmunk.

"All I ask is that when you make it home you tell that old man of yours to come visit."

"Will do... " Fox replied and drug Phil into a hug, the chipmunk shocked at the sudden arms wrapped around him. "I promise."

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

As the next day rolled around, Fox knew it was time for him to finally return home and see his family. After saying his goodbyes to Phil and filling up his jet while oil, the tom took to the stars eagerly speeding up to get to Corneria much sooner.

**Two Weeks Later**

"To your left!" Peppy heard the blue avian holler out from across the street as the enormous robot crashed its foot down next to him.

Corneria was under attack yet again, this time by a strange robot, and Star Fox had their hunches of who might own this machine. Despite being the best of the best, Star Fox as much as they'd hate to admit it, was only three members now and weak. It would take a miracle to defeat this thing.

"Ya know, I was really starting to like the guy but oh no he just had to quit on us!" Falco couldn't help but banter.

"Would you drop it, Falco it was his decision and now isn't the best time for this!" The old hare scolded him from across the pavement, shuffling in place as he watched the robot next to him. "I'm not happy about it either."

Seeing as he was the fastest member left, Falco made a decision to distract the robot until the Cornerian army arrived. Picking up a piece of runnel that had fallen from one of the destroyed buildings, the avian tossed it and watched as it bounced off the side of the machine's metal surface. "Over here, you big hunk of junk!"

Seeing the bird, the robot turned in his direction and the chase began. Sprinting off, Falco made sure to keep a safe distance without loosing the robot behind him. The streets were in ruin, but that wasn't going to stop him as he hurled over the fallen wreckage with ease. Darting past fallen light poles, concrete slabs, shattered window glass, wrecked busses and other vehicles; you name it, it was scattered around in the destruction.

"Yeah, that's right metal head keep up with me!" Falco loved to shout insults to his enemies as if it helped lighten his own mood.

Darting a street corner, the avian noticed the sudden silence behind him as the heavy foot steps that once shoot the ground were no longer behind him. Knowing this was some trick, he kept moving and just as he expected his entire world came crashing down onto him all at once; literally.

"Holy shit!" Was all that left Falco's lungs as he watched the Robot smash directly through a sky scraper, and as it made it through the building began to fall in the aftermath; It began to head downward in Falco's direction. "You've gotta be kidden me!" Quickly, the avian started sprinting in the machine's direction, having no other way to go and leaped forward barley missing the building as it crashed into the streets behind him like a meteor crashing onto the planet's surface. His victory was short lived, though, as he stood up he was facing death right in the face; he was right under the robot.

Just as all hope was lost, Falco watched as an Arwing flew past and landed a shot at the back of the robot's head. The jet looked damaged, but it was obvious that the damage was old and the Arwing hadn't been fixed.

Grabbing his comm, Flaco set it on his head before contacting the others. "Hey, I think James may have arrived to help."

"And why are you assuming that?" The hare asked, an annoyed tone in his voice.

"Because, Einstein, someone in a Star Fox Arwing just shot at the robot!"

"Really? But, James would have contacted me before entering the battle... or well, maybe not." Peppy was now rambling which made the avians eyes roll.

"Look, I ain't got time for you're rambling, Peppy I'm fighting a robot!" Hearing the old rabbit grow quiet, Falco gazed up at the mech only to see it starring right into his eyes. It was at this moment he knew he was done for.

Alas, just as a laser was seconds from firing right out of the mech, the Arwing swung by again and this time someone jumped out of it's cockpit. The tom landed on the robot's head, making sure to keep his balance and using his new robotic arm swung a left hook right into the mech's neck and ripped out as many wires as he could fit in his hand. As the robot fell, Fox McCloud leapt off and landed in a roll right in from of his old feathered friend.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, feathers."

That voice sent a years' worth of emotion right through the blue bird and he wasted no time crashing into Fox's arms as tears began to cascade down his feathery cheeks. "Foxy!? Oh, gods Foxy we all swore you were dead!"

Letting his paw glide across his bird's head, Fox let a smile ghost across his face. "I'm not dead, Falco I promise."

Leaving the hug, Fox watched as Slippy and Peppy finally made it to the sight of the mech only to find it dead and Fox alive. "I-It's a miracle..." The words left the old rabbit as he too drug Fox into a hug. The team finally together once again.

"Okay, now that we've got hugs out of the way, Peppy where is my father?" Fox found it quite odd that his father was not with them.

"Well, after you... uh... _died_ , as we thought, James couldn't bare to hear the name anymore. He said Star Fox reminded him of who he lost, so despite our attempts to persuade him otherwise your father retired from Star Fox about a month ago." Fox could see the pain in Peppy's eyes as he explained why his father was not with them.

"Do you know where he is?" The tom asked, crossing his arms and letting a sigh leave his lungs.

"Last I checked, he should be working with General Pepper."

Nodding, Fox began to walk down the street heading north. "Well then, Peppy let's go pay my old man a visit, shall we?"

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Standing outside the door to General Pepper's office, the vulpine began to knock on the door and could feel his nerves at war with each other _. What if dad is angry? Like, what if he thinks I'm an imposter?_ _What if he doesn't want to see me? Wait, no dad wouldn't want to not see me. What if-_ Fox's thoughts were cut short as a guard answered the door and fox watched their jaw drop.

"Yes, I know I'm supposed to be dead. Can you wait a few moments to be shocked and let m in first?" The guard nodded and let Fox inside.

"I'm seeing things." Pepper muttered as he watched the ghost walk into the room. "Fox McCloud, alive and well? How is this possible?"

"it's a long story, Pepper but I'll be glad to tell you after I see my father?"

"Of course!" General pepper nodded before picking up his phone. "Maggie, can you send James up for me? Thank you."

"To answer your questions, I used my jet to escape the flames, but a telephone pole fell and cut off my arm. When I got out, my team had left me there and it took me a year to fix my Arwing enough to fly again." Fox explained. "It's a lot."

"Interesting." The general nodded. "Well, I'm sure the rest is a wonderous story."

Before Fox could reply, the doors behind him swung open; instead of hearing the footsteps behind him continue, he only heard the door shut and follow by a silence. Turning around, Fox met gazes with a pair of shades; his father, who in which, despite the shade, you could tell was in total shock.

"F-Fox.." The words left his father's lips before the old tom tackled his son into a hug. "Its you, its really you! I thought I'd lost you forever."

Returning the hug, Fox couldn't help the childish grin on his muzzle. "I know dad, but I'm back and you don't need to worry anymore."

"But, how- how are you alive?" James asked, the tears now raining down his face.

Letting a chuckle leave his lungs, Fox began explaining to his father how he survived a year on venom.


	3. Chapter 3

_Despite any events life may throw at you, despite the trama, pain and suffering you endure and despite the obstacles you overcome it always seems as if the universe and greater powers always have another right hook to slam into your face._

"Run, get out of here!"

_You can fight for peace all you want; you can rip away the evil that threatens your beloved home and yet another force will come along and demand you bow down to them and give up all you treasure and hold dear._

"Head for the escape ships! Go, go now!"

_It's a never ending carousel; spinning rapidly with no breaks and the man controlling said carnival ride of horror keeps upping the speed until the ride breaks and you crash into reality. Hitting you all at once and sucking the soul of life out of you until you break._

"Threaten me all you want, I'm not and nor will I ever be scared of you! I'm not in the Cornerian Airforce for nothing!!! Bring it on!"

Slowly, though you may survive the endless blows life punches into your face, slowly everyone you love will eventually fall and give in to the darkness around them; they all bow down to fate and in an act of their own courage... they vanish. You will end up alone in the end.

**_January 15, 3074._ **

**_Corneria City, Planet Corneria_ **

His fur was matted, it's brown color faded and a deep shade of grey tinted under his eyes. Pacing across the cold floor of his office, the general of Corneria patiently awaited for Star Fox to arrive and fly through his office doors.

"General Pepper," Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long as Fox McCloud raced through the large doors followed by his team behind him. "What's wrong, you sounded urgent in your message did something happen?"

"Yes." The old dog replied, a sense of dread hidden in his raspy voice. "Titania was attacked by an unknown force. So far, only a few survivors have surfaced... "

"They really don't know who did it?" The vulpine asked.

"No, the survivors that did return back to Corneria never got a good look at the attackers." Pepper tried his best to explain. "Fox- about Titania- well you see... I had some of my air force stationed on Titania to handle some criminal actions lead by some pirates."

Confused, the young tom couldn't help but tilt his ears to the side. "Okay, but Pepper what does that have to do with-"

"Fox, Bill was one of the pilots that never returned home to Corneria."

Feeling his head spin, Fox took a step back in shock before speaking. "He- no- is he?" Words couldn't seem to leave his muzzle; his throat felt like it was going to close.

"As far as we know, Fox, Bill Grey is dead." Pepper felt the sting as he spoke the painful sentence. "I'm terribly sorry; look, I know this is hard to take in but Star Fox is the only team skilled enough to even step foot on Titania right now."

Despite the stabbing pain Fox felt in his heart, he knew he had to go no matter what he might find on Titania. "Not a problem sir," The empty tone in his voice could clearly be heard."We will leave for Titania as soon as possible."

"Good," The general replied with a relieved nod and sigh. "Thank you; Fox, by the way, I forgot to ask, how's your father after retiring from Star Fox for good?"

A subtle smile flashed on the young tom's face before he turned to the door. "Fine, he's doing fine."

_**Cornerian Base, Star Fox wing** _

"Alright boys, get ready we've got a long trip ahead of us." Fox ordered his team before he made his way to the Great Fox. Entering, the tom walked down the long hallways until he arrived to the control room. "ROB, get ready to set course to Titania."

Fox couldn't shake it, he couldn't shake the thought of poor Bill getting murdered by some unknown force. "I'll avenge you Bill... I promise on my own life."

"Leaving without saying goodbye?"

Hearing his father's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, the tom turned around to see James leaning against the door frame with crossed arms. Cringing at himself Fox internally cursed himself. "Right... I'm supposed to let you know when we leave on missions."

Leaving his position against the door frame, James walked over to his kid with concern written on his features. "Fox, what's wrong?"

No one knew Fox like his father did and he knew it. James could read Fox like a book. "Titania was attacked by some... unknown force? Bill... he was killed there."

Entering behind James, Peppy Hare saw a look he hadn't seen since he told Fox his father had 'Died'. Eye's dull and expression empty; Fox looked as if he'd lost part of his soul when Bill died. "Guessing he told you about Bill?"

Turning to notice Peppy, James nodded before dragging his kit into a hug. "Fox, don't hide your emotions it'll only destroy you." The older vulpine explained to his son, his paw running across his kit's ears.

"Good luck with that," The old hare stated before sitting at his desk and shuffling through paperwork. "I've seen that kid heartbroken before and i promise you he's not gonna take that advice."

Leaving the warm hug from his father, the tom scrambled over to his own seat typing away to get as much info on the attack on Titania as possible. The thought of survivors possibly hiding out on the planet did cross his mind. It wouldn't be the first time a planet was attacked and the citizens took shelter in underground secret tunnels to wait out the chaos. Quickly, Fox acted on his thought and typed away on his large computer and pulled up a governmental sight.

"May i ask what you're doing?" James asked as he came up behind Fox's chair.

"What if there were survivors?" His son answered him as he frantically searched through the site. "They could be hiding out in secret tunnels and underground shelters."

"Okay, but what's up with hacking into a classified, government website?"

Fox's ears fell as he realized his father knew damn well Star Fox, as high in the ranks they are, did not have permission to access any websites that were classified forbidden to the public. "Well, I know this website tracks any street or security cameras on all planets."

Hearing his son's explanation, James couldn't help but still feel nervous at the fact his kid was still breaking the law by doing this. "Alright, that's a good idea and im sure you'll find something but one, how did you know how to access the website and two, why didn't you just ask General Pepper to look for you?"

Nodding, Fox took in his father's concerns before answering and pulled up a video on the screen. "Because, Pepper seemed a bit off when he was talking to us. Besides, he seemed very certain everyone was dead and would probably refuse to "waste his time" on this."

"Understood, in that case please be careful Fox." Despite having good reasons for retiring, James still regretted leaving his son in full charge of the team again. Not that he didn't trust him, the old fox just couldn't help but worry.

"I know dad, ill be careful there is no reason to wo-"

Cutting his son off, James had good reason to worry. "I'm going to worry, Fox McCloud, you can't stop me from worrying. I'm not around anymore to save you every time you decide to put your tail in danger and I'm also not going to be there to turn around this time."

Confused of what his father meant, Fox tilted his head a bit to the side as he turned his chair around to face him. "Turn around?"

Ignoring his son's question, the older tom grabbed his jacket, ruffled his kid's fur and made his way off the ship leaving Fox very baffled.

"He's speaking of the battle on Venom." Hearing his godfather speak, the tom used his boot to move the chair in Peppy's direction to listen more carefully as the hare spoke. "That year we thought you were dead, James blamed himself for not turning the ship around to go after you. I told him we all stopped him due to the danger but your old man insisted it was his fault."

Spinning back around to face the monitor once again, Fox decided not to comment on that and focus on the mission at hand. He'd have to talk to his father when they return home and let him know to stop blaming himself for something he had no control over. Glancing up at the screen, he noticed the moment a door shut in a run down shop. The camera's seemed to be facing a meat shop and you could already see the damage the building took in the attack.

"I saw something!" Fox called over to peppy and quickly grabbed a pen and a piece of paper jotting down the coordinates of the location on the screen.

"What did you see?" The old rabbit asked before using his feet to kick off the wall and roll his chair over to Fox's desk.

"A door close." Fox answered before typing the numbers he wrote down into their GPS computers. "There, we will be landing close to their; Peppy get the boys in here we need to take off immediately. If there are survivors than we need to hurry and get to them as soon as possible."

Watching the Great Fox rise out the base, James couldn't help a bit of regret fill his chest as he debated chasing after them and joining the team again. He didn't, but he still thought about it. Once the ship was out of sight the older tom made his way to the elevator and pressed the button to the top floor to Pepper's office. Pepper requested a meeting with James, which was another reason he didn't join Star Fox on this mission.

"Better be damn important." James muttered to himself as the doors opened once more.

Leaving the elevator, James walked down the long hallway covered in blue carpet until he reached the door to Pepper's office. Being who he was he didn't knock. He didn't have to. Entering, he saw Pepper staring out the large windows and gazing at the clouds. "See they took off." The old General spoke.

"Pepper, you wanted to talk?"

"Yes, James; look, I'm getting old and you are more deserving of this than anyone else I've thought of and I know you'll probably reject the offer but..." The General turned to face James, a soft smile growing across his face before he continued. "James McCloud, would you accept my request and take my place as General of Corneria?"

**_January 18, 3074. Outside of Titania._ **

"Arriving on Titania in T-15 minutes." ROB alerted the team as the ship grew closer to the desert planet.

"Thanks ROB." Fox replied and grabbed his jacket off his chair slipping it on and rolling up the sleeves. "Alright, boys get ready; we don't know what will be waiting for us on Titania."

"You think there might still be some enemies left behind as well?" The blue avian asked his Captain. Even though Fox returned alive, neither of them brought up if they were still a THING or not and Falco was getting sick of watching Fox from afar like he was his silly high school crush.

"Possibly." Fox answered and equipped himself with many knives and blaster hidden on his person.

"Alright, er- Foxy, you think we could talk soon?" Falco could feel the nervous lump growing in this throat. There was a possibility that Fox could reject him. .

"About us?"

The fact Fox knew right away what Falco wanted to speak about almost surprised the bird. "Uhm, yeah. Though if you aren't up for that I totally understand and all-"

Standing up after slipping and knife into the side of his boot, Fox looked at the bird and let a sigh leave his lungs. "Nothing to talk about, Falco if you still want me I'm glad to accept but if no than I have no choice but to step aside and let you go."

A scoff left the avian's beak in response to that. "Why would I NOT still want you; Fox, you're all I could think about last year... I couldn't dare look at anyone else."

"In that case, there is no need to ask, Falco Id gladly continue to date you; only after we are done with this mission of course."

The lump that was growing in Falco's throat melted away and he nodded before grabbing his own weapons and followed the team to the door as they watched the ship land on Titania.


End file.
